Maximum Ride: the Fight for Family
by Chenoa6
Summary: The flock move to Privet Drive. Keeping their secret isn't easy, but theirs isn't the only secret to uncover. Worlds collide when science meets magic, and the flock struggle to stay together, with new enemies in and out of school. Full summary inside.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything!**

**Set after 'The Final Warning' and during 'the Order of the Phoenix'. But it will differ from 'the Order of the Phoenix', so expect the plot to be slightly different.**

**Summary: The flock move to England with Dr. M and Ella. Keeping their secret isn't easy in a place like Privet Drive, but theirs isn't the only secret to uncover.**

**Certain events and people try to tear the flock apart, but staying together may be the only way that, not only the flock, but the entire world, can survive.**

**Part One: New Home, New Friends, Fun Enemies**

**Chapter One**

"I can't wait to get to the new house." Nudge was saying to no one in particular, from the back of the mini-van. "I wonder what it looks like. Is English school different from American school? I bet it is-"

I tuned her out once more. We had tried shutting her up, but she was too excited. Apparently, moving to England was 'the coolest thing we've ever done'.

That's right, we've moved to England. My mom said that she and Ella had been planning on moving to England for awhile, and now seemed like the perfect time.

And after the whole 'global warming' thing, she said the flock should take a break from saving the world, and that she would love if the flock came with to England, at least for awhile. I was hesitant at first, but the flock seemed to like the idea. And then, of course, the kids gave me the bambi eyes, leaving me with no choice.

So, here we were, all squashed into a mini-van in England, on our way to out new English house, with new English neighbours.

And the best part of it, was that my mom was forcing the flock to go to school during our stay. I almost refused to go after learning that, but by then, it was too late to get out of it.

The kids didn't seem to mind the idea, and even Iggy didn't complain that much. But me and Fang were dreading it. We didn't do well in school situations. We would be much more at home in a battle field.

"This is our street." My mom said from the driver's seat.

I looked out the window at the street sign. **'**_**Privet Drive'**_

I looked down the street we had just turned on to, and I didn't know whether to groan in despair, or laugh out loud.

Because honestly, who wouldn't laugh? I would never have pictured the flock living in a place like _this_.

Looking out the window as we drove by, I saw big houses, with lawns that were trimmed and orderly. All the flower beds were pruned and perfect. There wasn't one blade of grass longer than the others, not one petal out of place.

I saw a middle-aged man mowing the lawn, a housewife gardening. A few small children were playing quietly in a garden. I could already feel myself becoming bored and drowsy. Even the name of the place, _Privet Drive_, was posh and boring.

_This should be the place they send people to crush their spirit._ I thought.

"We're here, guys." My mom said. "This is our new home." She slowed the car and pulled into an empty driveway.

I got out and looked up at the house. I think it was just my imagination that a piece of my spirit cracked, but I'm not too sure.

The house was perfect, completely symmetrical. It was painted white with clean, shining windows. The lawn was neat, and the flower bed was tidy.

It basically resembled every other boring house on the street.

Fang got out of the van and came to stand behind me.

I turned to look at him as he examined the house. He had the same look of dread on his face that I'm sure I had on a moment ago.

He looked at me then, and his yes clearly said, "_I can't believe you agreed to this._"

I chuckled slightly and turned back to the house.

"This is gonna be a blast." I said sarcastically.

**I'm BACK! My second story! YAY! **

**Please review, even though it's just the first chapter, and nothing really happened. :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything!**

**Chapter Two**

We all piled out of the mini-van. We were waiting for the moving van to show up, with all of the furniture and boxes in it, but while we were waiting, my mom wanted to go in and look around.

"Better get an idea of where we're going to put everything." She said with a smile, heading inside.

As I passed the door, I spotted a shiny brass _'5'_ placed on the house. So, we lived at Number Five, Privet Drive. Kind if catchy…in a severely annoying way.

The inside looked like it should have been in one of those house magazines. It was spacious and bright, with that echo-y sound you get with big, empty spaces.

I found my mom and Iggy in the kitchen. My mom was opening and closing pantries, while Iggy ran his hand over the gleaming white countertop.

"Oh, this kitchen has so much more space than the old one."

"Cleaner, too." Iggy commented.

"Not for long." I muttered, wondering what it would look like after our first meal here. I bet it won't be gleaming then.

Iggy heard me and grinned, probably having the same thoughts I was having.

I left the room and headed up the stairs, which were at the end of the hallway. I met Gazzy in the upstairs hall.

"Hey, Max." he said, smiling. "There're four rooms up here, and a bathroom. One room's for Dr. M, and I think Nudge and Ella want to share a room."

"That's fine." I said. We always made arrangements to sleep in certain rooms, but what usually happened was, all of us just slept in whatever room we started to feel tired in. A lot of the time, the flock just curl up together in one big pile.

I glanced into the first room. Nudge and Ella were talking excitedly about how they were going to decorate their room.

"I'm definitely thinking pink." Nudge said, looking at the walls.

"What shade of pink, though?" Ella asked tensely, as if the fate of the world rested on their decision.

"I'll bet they pick something that blinds anyone who walks past." Fang muttered from right behind me.

I whirled around.

"Would you stop doing that!" I said irritably.

Fang just smirked and tilted his head, telling me to follow him. He led me into the last room on the landing.

"We'll take this room." He said.

"Why?" I asked. This room was the same as the others.

Fang glanced across the room. I followed his gaze, and immediately agreed that this was the best room. It had the biggest window.

"Hi, Max." Angel said, coming into the room. "Hi, Fang."

"Hey, Angel. What do you think?" I asked.

"I like the house." She said. "And the neighbourhood is really pretty."

"Moving van is here." Fang said, who was looking out the window at the street below.

"We better go help with the boxes." I said.

* * *

We spent the rest of the day moving things into the house and unpacking, entertaining ourselves when we got bored with a very immature cardboard box fight.

We were emptying the last box and about to go have dinner, when my mom walked in.

"Max, Jeb wants to talk to you." She said, holding the phone out to me.

I stifled a groan, taking it from her.

"What?" I asked harshly into the phone. I had been hoping that moving to another country meant escaping Jeb for awhile, but apparently not.

"Your mother says you're settling into the new house?" Jeb asked.

"Yeah, what do you want?" I repeated, wanting to get this over with.

"You can't abandon your mission, Max." he told me. "You can't forget about saving the world."

"I'm _not_ forgetting it." I said truthfully. "I'm just choosing to ignore it for awhile."

"Max-" Jeb said warningly.

"Listen Jeb," I interrupted. "I'm hungry and tired. Call back some other time." I hung up before he could reply. I knew that one was going to come back and bite me. Call it Mutant's Intuition.

But I wouldn't worry about Jeb just yet. Right now, I would just worry about getting some food.

"Max," Ella called from the kitchen. "Dinner's ready."

_Well,_ I thought, heading for the kitchen. _Let's see how this gleaming kitchen deals with the flocks table manners._

_

* * *

_

The next morning I woke up to birds singing and the morning sun coming through the window. I looked out to see a lady gardening, and someone washing their already shiny car.

After breakfast I was surprised to see that the kitchen still looked new and sparkly. It seemed to be immune to getting dirty. I was slightly disappointed at this.

The flock and Ella were all finishing cleaning up when the doorbell rang. The flock froze as I heard my mom answer the front door, and then voices moving into the living room.

My mom came into the kitchen a moment later.

"Kids, the neighbours have come over to welcome us. Come and say hello."

She lead us out of the kitchen, some of us more reluctant than others, and into the living room.

The first thing I saw was the largest boy I had ever seen. His face was very pink, with small, piggy eyes. He had a mop of blond hair on his head, and more chins than I thought possible for one person to have.

Next, I saw a big, beefy man, who was obviously the boys father. He, too, was surprisingly large for a human being, with a big walrus moustache on his red face, and no neck, from what I could see.

The woman that was beside him was quite the opposite. She was thin and bony, with a long neck and a horse-like face.

"Kids," My mom said to us. "This is Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, from next door, and their son, Dudley."

"Hello all." Mr. Dursley said in a heavy English accent, while Mrs. Dursley looked us all over.

I got the feeling she was judging everything about us. Our clothes, appearances, the way we stood. I resisted the urge to narrow my eyes at her.

"Mr. and Mrs. Dursley," My mom went on. "I'd like you to meet my daughters. Ella," she gestured to Ella.

"Hello." Ella said politely, smiling.

The Dursleys smiled approvingly at her.

"And Max." my mom gestured to me. I nodded at them.

"Oh." Mrs. Dursley said. "What an…unusual name, for a young lady."

This time I did narrow my eyes.

"And my adopted children." My mom moved on quickly. "This is Angela." She said, remembering the names we had agreed on earlier.

Angel stepped forward and smiled sweetly up at them.

"Zach." Gazzy waved and grinned at them.

"Tiffany." Nudge smiled, and managed to stay quiet.

"Jeff." Iggy waved in their direction.

"And Nick."

The Dursleys had kept their approving smiles on throughout the introduction, only faltering when introduced to me, before being replaced.

But when they looked at Fang, the approving smiles vanished completely, and turned to wary looks of suspicion.

I glanced at Fang too, and it took me awhile to understand.

Fang had not smiled at them, or given any greeting at all. He was staring at them impassively, with his arms crossed over his chest.

To the flock, he just looked like Fang, but I suppose to strangers, he looked kind of…dangerous.

"Well…" my mom said into the silence that had descended on the living room. "Shall we all sit down and get to know each other?"

_Oh, yay_. I thought to myself as we all sat down, getting ready for the 'Get to Know You' game.

Let's see if we can't make this interesting.

**I personally don't like this chapter. I had trouble finding a way to introduce the flock and the Dursleys, and I just thought it didn't...flow together properly.**

**So tell me what you think :) REVIEW!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything, and I'm not going to, so this is gonna count for the rest of the story.**

**This is based after 'The Final warning' and during 'The order of the Phoenix' in case anyone forgot.**

**Chapter Three**

It turned out that, no, I could not make this interesting. I don't think there was a person alive who could make this family interesting.

I mean, seriously! This guy was talking about _drills! _

"I'm actually the director of my drill company. Grunnings, it's called. And it's quite successful, too." Mr. Dursley was saying. Or 'Vernon' he had told my mom to call him.

We had only been talking to the Dursleys for around ten minutes, but already I was falling asleep, leaning against the side of the couch, my cheek on my fist.

Gazzy was staring at the floor with half-lidded eyes, Nudge was staring out the window, Iggy was leaning back in the couch with his eyes closed, using the excuse that he was blind and didn't need them to listen to people. I knew he was trying to fall asleep.

The Dursleys had been sympathetic when they found out Iggy was blind, but it was the sort of sympathy people didn't really mean.

"What school does Dudley go to?" My mom asked, trying to get the topic onto something more exciting. "I know school starts in another month, and I've yet to find a school for the kids."

"Dudley goes to Smeltings." Mrs. Dursley, or Petunia said. Her eyes turned misty when her gaze moved to her lump of a son.

"It's a private school, the best there is." Vernon said proudly. "I went there myself when I was Dudley's age."

"Of course," Petunia went on. "There is Stonewall High, but that's a public school. I wouldn't consider it."

"I'll look into Smeltings, then." My mom said with an appreciative smile.

"Have I told you," Vernon said. "That Dudley here is the Junior Heavyweight Inter-School Boxing Champion."

My head snapped up when I heard that, and looked at Dudley.

So he could fight. Or, he thought he could fight, anyway. Maybe he would be more fun than I thought.

Thinking that my sudden return to consciousness was because I was impressed, Dudley put on a smug smile.

"Popkins," Petunia said to Dudley, and I suppressed a snort of laughter. "Why don't you take the children out and show them around? Maybe introduce them to some of your little friends."

Petunia turned to my mom. "Dudley is very popular." She told her.

Dudley got up and headed outside, with the flock following him. Ella stayed behind, saying she was working on decorating her room. Lucky her.

Dudley led us past the square houses, emerald green lawns and gleaming cars.

"This street is called Privet Drive." Dudley explained, walking beside me and ignoring everyone else. "But the area in general is known as Little Whinging."

"Fascinating." I said dully. I didn't see the point of showing us around. Everything here looked the same. And staring at one manicured lawn after another was giving me a sense of hopelessness.

Dudley led us around a corner at the end of the street, into another street full of neat houses and tidy lawns.

"This street is called Wisteria Walk." Dudley explained. He said it as if I should be impressed by how much he knew. And honestly, I was impressed. He had already exceeded my expectations by being able to walk and talk at the same time.

Looking at the pretty flowerbeds, I got an insane urge to go and rip them all up and stamp on them. Just to see how the people around here would react.

They would probably call the cops.

Halfway down the street Dudley turned into an alleyway.

"This alley is a shortcut between Wisteria Walk and Magnolia Crescent. Me and my friends use it all the time." Dudley told me smugly.

Even the alleys here were clean and tidy. I was starting to feel more and more hopeless.

Magnolia Crescent looked unsurprisingly just like Privet Drive and Wisteria Walk.

"Where are we going?" Gazzy asked.

Dudley, who seemed to have been trying to pretend the others weren't there, was reluctant to answer.

"I'm meeting some of my friends." He finally replied, and then turned back to me. "I'll introduce you, Max."

I glanced back at the flock to give them a look that said_, 'Don't give our secret away, or you're dead'_. They all nodded in understanding. After the whole 'global warming' thing, people did know about us, but we still wanted to keep below the radar. It seemed like the smart thing to do.

I caught Fang's eye. He glanced at Dudley, then looked back at me and smirked. I rolled my eyes and turned away, resisting the urge to flip him the bird.

I saw a group of young guys up ahead. One of them saw us coming and yelled. "Hey! Big D!"

I choked back another snort of laughter. Big D? It was almost as bad as 'Popkins'.

"Hey." Dudley called back.

We reached the group and Dudley turned to me.

"Max, meet Gordon, Malcolm and Piers." Dudley pointed to two large-but-not-as-large-as-Dudley boys, and a rat-faced skinny boy.

"Guys," Dudley went on. "this is Max and her family. They just moved in next door."

There was a chorus of 'hey's', and then Piers turned to Dudley.

"You ready to go sort out Mark Evans?"

"Yeah." Dudley replied. "Let's go."

"Sort out?" Iggy asked as the group of boys led us down the road.

"He cheeked me a couple days ago." Dudley explained.

"So now you're going to beat him up?" Nudge guessed.

"We're going to teach him a lesson." Gordon said, one of the large boys.

"We're a tough group in our school." Rat-face, Piers said. "We have to make sure everyone knows their place, keep them in check."

We reached a small playground, where I saw a slide, monkey bars and a lot of broken swings.

"So you guys can fight?" Angel asked the boys, who were clearly surprised to get a question like that from a little girl.

"Can I fight one of you?" Gazzy asked, surprising them more.

"Listen, kid-" Gordon started.

"What's the point?" Iggy asked Gazzy. "You know you're going to win."

"I doubt that." Malcolm said, sounding amused.

"Are you scared you'll be beat by an eight year old?" I asked before I could stop myself. So much for keeping under the radar.

"Come on." Gazzy said, moving onto a patch of grass. "If you're not scared."

Malcolm stepped forward, and I bent down to whisper in Gazzy's ear.

"Don't use all your strength, and for the love of Gad, don't break his ribs."

Gazzy gave me a 'duh' look and turned towards Malcolm. Long story short, Malcolm was flat on his back in less than five seconds. Amateur.

"I was going easy on you." He said as he got to his feet.

"Wanna try again?" Gazzy asked him, a bit too eager.

He did try again, and this time he lasted around eight seconds before returning to his place on the ground.

"I want a turn." Iggy said.

"Aren't you blind?" Gordon asked.

"You think you can beat me just because you can see?" Iggy asked with a grin, moving onto the grass.

Gordon stepped forward, looking sceptical, but he soon joined Malcolm, who hadn't gotten to his feet yet.

"You guys can fight?" Piers asked, sounding half impressed, half disbelieving. "All of you?"

"Yup." Nudge answered.

Dudley turned to me.

"You want to see if you can beat me, Max?" he asked.

"I'm a little out of your league, Dudley." I said. _Or a lot._ I added in my head. _In more ways than one._

But watching people fight got me itching to have my own fight. I glanced at Fang to see the same eager look in his eyes.

"Watch how the pro's do it." I said to the group of boy's, moving away to a big area next to the monkey bars. If me and Fang were going to spar, we would need a lot of room.

I faced Fang. It started out as just another sparring session. Me and Fang almost had a routine. Punch. Dodge. Kick. Punch.

But when I went to to swipe Fang's legs from under him, he jumped up and hoisted himself onto the top of the monkey bars, balancing his feet on the bars carefully.

I hesitated for a second. If we looked too professional, Dudley might ask questions. And if the Dursleys found out our secret, we would have to leave.

But right now I was too into the fight, so I quickly climbed up to join Fang.

That's when things got interesting. Not only did we have to dodge each other's blows, we had to keep our balance, and make sure our feet didn't fall between the bars.

Fang grabbed my arm. I twisted out of his grip, but almost lost my balance. Fang took the opportunity to kick at my legs, causing me to fall sideways off the monkey bars.

But before I hit the ground, I grabbed a bar and swung myself back up on the other side of the monkey bars, doing a complete 360.

I quickly grabbed Fang's arm, twisting it behind his back and throwing him off the monkey bars.

But, of course, Fang didn't give up that easily. Before he fell completely, he wrapped both his knees around a bar so that he was hanging upside down. He reached up through the bars and grabbed my foot.

I lost balance and fell to my knees, banging one of them on a bar.

Before I could even register the pain, Fang reached up further and pulled me down, wrapping his arms around me and locking me in an embrace.

Now both of us were upside down, Fang keeping both of us from falling on our heads. That's when I realized how very close we were. I could feel his breathe on my cheek, and our noses brushed as we held eye contact.

I was starting to feel light headed, and I didn't know if that was from all the blood rushing to my head, or the fact that the close proximity to Fang had caused me to momentarily forget to breathe.

"That was amazing!" Piers' voice shattered my daze. I had almost forgotten about everyone watching.

I broke eye contact with Fang, and he gently lowered me to the ground. I got up as Fang got off the monkey bars.

"When did you guys learn to fight like that?" Malcolm asked.

"Oh, you know…" I trailed off, not having any idea for a lie.

"Max, I want to go home." Angel said, reading my thoughts and providing an escape.

"Okay, let's go." I replied, thanking her in my head. "We'll see you guys around."

I hurried the flock away, not wanting any of the boy's to follow and ask more questions.

"That was pretty cool moves, guys." Gazzy said to me and Fang as we walked down Magnolia Crescent.

It had started getting dark, and the street lights came on, illuminating our way to the alleyway.

"Yeah," Nudge said. "Maybe we should practice fighting on the monkey bars. It could help with balance and concentration. What do you-"

We turned into the alley and almost collided with someone.

The boy looked up, startled, and stepped back. He was around my height, with black messy hair, glasses and baggy clothes.

There was a pause, where the flock just stared at the boy, and the boy just stared back.

Then the boy recovered and said. "Hello. You must be the new neighbours in number five, right?"

* * *

**3****rd**** Person POV:**

"Why do you think you have anything to offer me?" The man said.

"We can build an army in a matter of days." The Director replied, forcing herself to not shrink back, keeping her voice steady. "And they're proven to be resilient against the tests I told you about. It seems to have no effect on them."

"Interesting." The man said. "And what would you want in return for such an army?"

"Assistance," The Director said. "with the extermination of some, uh, misplaced experiments."

She handed the man a thick file. He opened it with long, pale fingers and leafed through it.

"Do not lie to me." The man said quietly. "they were not misplaced. They escaped."

The Director stayed silent, sure that replying would be unwise.

"But look at their abilities." The man went on, reading the file. "They could prove useful. Even if they are children."

"I must warn you." The Director spoke before she could stop herself. "Do not underestimate them. They are not ordinary children. They have evolved into a team seemingly unbeatable."

"Teams can be broken up." The man said softly. Or at least, the director thought it was a man. "And then you see just how beatable they are."

The man raise his eyes to meet the Director's, and she had the sudden urge to run screaming from the room. But if she did, she knew she would never reach the door.

"I will help you with the control of this 'flock'. And I will use your assets to finally exterminate a pest of my own." The man said. "And when our business is done, there will be no one alive who has escaped Lord Voldemort."

* * *

_Three thousand miles away:_

"Yeah," I said in reply to the boy, and stuck out my arm to shake his hand. "Who the hell are you?"

**So, I finally updated! Woo! **

**Review and get a cookie!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

"Why didn't you come over with the Dursleys yesterday, if you live with them?" Gazzy asked Harry as we lounged in the backyard.

"Yeah, you could have saved us from learning all about the different types of drills." I said sarcastically.

It was the day after we had met Harry in the alley. Early this morning we had gone next door, to see if he wanted to hang around, and he had seemed pretty eager to get away from the Dursleys.

Harry hesitated, before saying. "The Dursleys don't like people knowing that I'm related to them."

"If I were you, it would be the other way around." Iggy said to him. "I wouldn't want anyone to know I was related to Dudley."

Harry laughed at that.

"So, Harry." I said. "What is it with this place? Why is it so…?"

"Neat? Boring? Full of people who think scruffiness should be punishable by law?" Harry offered.

"Yeah."

Harry shrugged. "It just is. You'll just have to get used to it."

"What school do you go to?" Nudge asked him. "Smeltings?"

Harry hesitated again, as if contemplating how to answer. But then he sighed and said. "No. I go to…St. Brutus's."

I gave him a questioning look and he went on reluctantly.

"It's a Secure Centre for Incurably Criminal Boys."

I raised my eyebrows at that. I've met criminals. Heck, I _was_ a criminal, legally speaking. And this kid did not look like a criminal.

"It sounds more interesting than this place." I heard Gazzy mutter to Iggy.

"Why do you live with the Dursleys?" Angel asked Harry.

"They're my aunt and uncle. My parents died when I was really young," he explained. "and they're my only other relatives."

Angel gave him a sympathetic look, but she also looked like she was trying to figure out something. I had a horrible feeling in my stomach that she was reading his mind.

"What about you guys?" Harry asked, changing the subject. "Where did you live in America?"

"We moved around a lot." I said truthfully.

Harry nodded, but didn't push for more details. He subconsciously moved his hand up to rub a scar on his forehead. He had as agitated expression on his face, like something was annoying him.

"Where'd you get the scar?" I asked.

Harry looked up, snapping out of his thoughts. "I got it in a car crash, when my parents died."

My mom came through the back door then.

"Harry? Your aunt and uncle want you home for dinner."

Harry got up, looking none too happy.

"Can we hang out again tomorrow?" Gazzy asked before he left.

Harry agreed and departed, leaving the Flock to laze around for the rest of the day.

* * *

I opened the bedroom door quietly and glanced in. Iggy and Gazzy seemed to be asleep already, although the sun had just barely gone down.

We had spent another day hanging with Harry, and he came across as being a bit moody. Actually, a lot moody. Although, living with the Dursleys your whole life, I don't blame him.

The Dursleys seemed to like us a lot less now that we were spending time with Harry, and Dudley seemed to want nothing to do with us, much to my relief.

I glanced at the other side of the room and met Fang's gaze, still wide awake, standing by the window.

I glanced at the window. He nodded at me, and turned to open it slowly, not wanting to wake Iggy.

Warm air flooded in from outside as we looked out to see if anyone was around.

But it had been a scorching hot day, and all the people had retreated into their homes. And although it wasn't completely dark yet, if someone looked out their window, they wouldn't be able to make out what they were seeing.

Sure that the coast was clear, Fang and I jumped out the window and unfurled our wings.

It felt amazing to stretch my wings, after not flying for a couple days. We flew high above the house for a short while, but didn't go far.

"Man," I said, staring down at the houses below us. "Even the roofs are all the same around here."

We landed a couple streets away and started to walk along a clump of trees.

"The girls asleep?" Fang asked.

"They went to bed, but they didn't seem that tired." I replied.

Fang nodded.

"So," I went on. "What do you think of this place?"

Fang glanced at me, then turned to look straight ahead again. "It's very…orderly."

I snorted. "Yeah, that's one way of putting it."

Fang flashed me a small smile, brightening out immediate area. We walked on for awhile, but I broke the silence with a heavy sigh.

"I don't know how I'm going to live here, Fang." I confessed, feeling miserable.

"We could leave." He suggested simply.

"Yeah, I suppose. But what if the Flock doesn't want to go?"

Fang came to a stop and stepped in front of me. We stayed like that for a moment, holding eye contact, until he finally spoke.

"Then you'll just have to find a way to vent your frustration. Maybe you could beat up Dudley."

I burst out laughing, my misery forgotten.

"Yeah, that's definitely an option." I said once our laughter had died away.

We had stopped near a clump of bushes and small trees. I heard a twig snap from inside them, but dismissed it. Probably just an animal.

Fang stepped closer. "Everything will be fine."

He reached down and took my hand in his. Me heart started beating faster. I stared down at out hands, his thumb making slow circles on the back of mine.

_Calm down._ I told myself. _He's just holding your hand._

I swallowed and looked up at him. We were very close now. Fang brushed my hair out of my face, his hand lingering on my jaw.

And then, from the midst of the bushes, I heard a barely audible whisper.

"_Just kiss her already."_

There was a slightly louder shushing noise, and then more silence. I knew Fang had heard it too, because he immediately dropped his arm and let go of my hand.

I turned towards the bushes, stepping away from Fang as I did so. I could feel my cheeks burning, and was grateful that it was dark.

So much for the Flock being at home, asleep. The little twerps had followed us.

"Guys, come out of the bush-"

Yelling and shouting filled the night. The Flock toppled out of the bushes in surprise, then jumped up, everyone in fight mode.

But no one jumped out and attacked us.

"It's coming from the alley." Iggy said, his head turned as he listened intently.

"Come on." I said, leading the way as we sprinted down the street.

As I ran, I wondered what we would be facing. Seeing as it wasn't us who were in trouble, I doubted it would be anything more exciting than a couple of guys trying to mug someone.

We rounded the corner of the alley and, well…let's just say it wasn't what I had expected to see.

Closest to us was Dudley, who was cowering on the ground and whimpering. Hovering above him was the strangest thing I had ever seen. And that's saying something.

At first it looked like a guy in a hooded black cloak. But then I noticed it didn't have any legs. It was just floating in midair. I could hear Harry shouting at the other end of the alley, but I couldn't see him.

And that's when I knew something was seriously unnatural.

Being a bird-kid, I should have been able to see to the end of the alley no problem, but I could barely make out Dudley, who was a few feet away. It was a bright night a second ago. Where had all the stars gone.?

But it didn't matter right now. I rushed forward and, using all my weight and momentum, shoved the thing away from where it was crouching over Dudley.

And here's the thing that really freaked me out. It didn't fall over. It didn't even stumble. It just glided a few feet away and turned to face me. I couldn't see it's face because of the hood, but something, maybe the ice cold chill going down ny back, told me it was best if I didn't find out.

I turned to the flock. "Get Dudley out of here!" I yelled to them.

I turned back to the hooded thing to find it just inches in front of me. It reached out with lightening speed and grabbed my neck. Its hands felts cold and clammy, and I suddenly felt like I didn't want to fight. I didn't want to get away, or struggle, or even live.

I was remembering flashes of The School. Seeing syringes and cages, and White Coats and Erasers, all flashing in my mind.

Memories that I didn't even know I had, memories that I had suppressed, forced myself to forget.

I whimpered as my knees gave away, but the hooded figure held me up, still holding my neck.

Suddenly, the thing released me and I fell to the floor. I looked up to see Fang standing over me, making himself into a physical barrier between me and whatever the hell that thing was.

There was a sudden burst of light from the other end of the alley, and it came speeding towards us. It collided with the hooded thing and forced it to flee into the night.

Harry came running up to us, holding a stick and drenched in sweat. The glowing light, which looked like an animal, faded.

The night wasn't dark though. I looked up to see stars twinkling happily at me. I could feel the warm air around me, despite the fact that I was shivering like crazy.

"Are you all alright?" Harry asked, looking surprised to see us there.

I glanced over everyone.

"Yeah, we're good. I don't think he is, though." I said, gesturing to Dudley, still moaning on the ground. I turned back to Harry.

"What was-" I started, but then thought better of it. "You know what? I don't even want to know. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Harry said, looking immensely relieved that I wasn't asking questions. He moved over to Dudley and tried to lift him up.

I heard running footsteps coming down the road and looked up.

"Uh oh. We better go, Harry. Will you be able to handle him?" I asked, gesturing to Dudley again.

"Yeah, I got him." Harry grunted, hoisting his cousin up.

"Come on, guys." I said, and led the Flock away quickly.

Just as we rounded the corner out of sight, I heard an old women's voice say, "Don't put it away, idiot boy! What if there are more of them around? Oh, I'm going to _kill_ Mundungus Fletcher!"

* * *

We walked back to the house in silence. We entered the house and climbed the stairs, but instead of splitting up and going to bad, we all piled into an empty room.

I had stopped shivering by now. There was a moment of silence, soon broken by Gazzy.

"So," He said. "Anyone know what just happened?"

"We found out this place is a lot more interesting than we thought, that's what just happened." Iggy answered him.

"What were those things?" Nudge asked nobody in particular.

"Dementors." Angel said.

Everyone turned to stare at her.

"That's what Harry thought, anyway. He was really confused that they were here, in Little Whinging."

"What else did you find out?" I asked her.

"He used magic to get rid of them. He used a wand." She told me. "Max, I'm pretty sure Harry's a wizard."

**There you go! a nice long chapter as an apology for the long wait. :)**

**I'd really like to get to forty reviews before I put up the next chapter so, REVIEW! :D**


	5. Chapter 5

**You might want to read the last chapter to remember where this story left off. Sorry for the long wait!**

**Chapter 5**

We decided to climb the flower trellis beside his window.

It had been three days since the night in the alleyway. We had waited outside our house the next morning, lounging around the front door, waiting for Harry to come out and start his daily wander around Little Whinging. He had said that's what he's been doing all summer.

But he hadn't come out.

The next day it was the same thing. Discarding our ambush plan, we went for a more forward approach by banging on his front door. Mrs. Dursley had answered and, seeing that it was us, shrilled "Harry isn't here!" and slammed the door.

But unless they'd kicked him out, there was nowhere else he could've been. And the flock are known for not giving up easily. Well, sorta.

So, here I was, climbing the trellis in Harry's backyard, crushing dehydrated flowers, trying to be quiet and stay hidden from Mrs. Dursley, who we could hear banging pots and pans inside.

I reached what I presumed was Harry's window. There was damage done to the top and bottom of it, almost like there'd been…did there used to be…_bars_ on Harry's window?

I glanced inside and saw Harry lying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. Was he ill or hurt or something? Had the dementors come back?

But Harry got up and started pacing his room impatiently. So he was fine. Maybe a little pissed off by the looks of it, but otherwise unharmed.

I reached over and tapped on the window. Harry's head snapped up. His eyes widened and he came to open the window.

"Hello Harry." I said, mocking his English accent that still seemed so strange to my ears. "Mind a chat and a cup of tea?"

"Max, what are you doing here?"

"Move aside and let us in." I said, motioning for the flock to start climbing up.

Once we were all in I turned to Harry.

"So," I began casually. " What exactly are dementors?"

Harry's eyes widened. "How do you kno-"

"I'll tell you if you tell me."

"I can't." He said to us. "It would be best if you all just forgot-"

"What's the big deal? We already know you're a wizard." Iggy interrupted.

Harry's eyes widened more. "No I'm no- How do you know this stuff?"

"Well, the wizard thing was just a guess," Iggy said. "But thanks for confirming it."

"Don't worry, Harry." Angel told him. "You can trust us with your secret."

Harry looked hesitant for a moment, but then sighed and sat down on his bed.

"What do you want to know?"

Where to start. I didn't know enough about wizards to ask any proper questions, so I settled for:

"Everything."

Harry sighed again and started to talk.

He told us about the wizarding world. About the wizarding school, Hogwarts, and how he lived there, except in the summer. He told us how this one wizard, Voldemort, turned evil. How his parents were murdered, and that's why he lives with the Dursleys. He told us of Voldemort's demise, and how Harry was famous because of it. Of Voldemort's return, and how he now wants to kill Harry.

"And now he's got the Dementors on his side, and he set them after me."

"How many of these Death Eaters are there?" Fang asked.

Harry shook his head. "I don't know. But I'm sure Voldemort's gathering more followers now he's back."

"So, what are you going to do now?" Nudge asked. "About the Ministry hearing?"

"I can't do anything for now." He said. "All I can do is wait."

* * *

"I kind of feel bad for him." Iggy was saying.

We were back in our own house. We had decided not to tell Ella or my mom about all of this. It seemed safer if they stayed oblivious.

"Yeah, I mean, growing up with the Dursleys must have been tough." Nudge said. "I almost would prefer the Whitecoats. Almost."

"At least the Whitecoats kept thing interesting for us. Here it's just, it's just so…_boring!_ And orderly! The orderliness is everywhere. I feel like it's on me!" Iggy jumped up and started dramatically brushing off his sleeves, presumably trying to get the 'orderliness' off.

"Is orderliness a word?" Nudge asked while Gazzy laughed and began copying Iggy.

"Sure it is." Iggy said. "So, what are we gonna do?"

"We shouldn't do anything." Fang said.

Everyone paused and turned at him. Why couldn't _I_ ever grab the flock's attention like that?

"It doesn't concern us." Fang went on. "So we shouldn't involve ourselves."

There was a moment of silence, before Angel said "Yeah, I guess."

The conversation moved on. I caught Fang's eye and motioned to the door. We stepped into the hallway and Fang closed the door behind us.

Then I voiced the thought that had been nagging at me ever since we left Harry's house.

"What if it does concern us?"

Fang waited for me to continue.

"Harry said Voldemort was gathering power. And from the way Harry described him, this is one dangerous psychopath. And we know from our experience that dangerous psychopath + power = end of the world. What if this is what I'm supposed to save the world from?"

Fang looked away, thinking it over.

"If you're supposed to stop Voldemort, then we'll fight him and win." He said. "But I don't think we should go looking for him."

"Yeah," I said. "Looking for him would be a waste of time. Dangerous psychopaths usually find us without us trying."

"We'll cross paths sooner or later."

"Probably somewhere completely inconvenient. Like while we're grocery shopping."

**Once again, I'm sorry for the long wait. School has been time consuming. But over the Christmas (Yay Christmas!:D) holidays I should be updating more.**

**I don't think I deserve your reviews after the ridiculously long pause between updates but...review?**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

"What do you mean, 'he's gone'?" I asked with my foot jammed in the front door, stopping Mrs. Dursley from slamming it in our faces.

The door opened wider to reveal Mr. Dursley.

"Harry is no longer here." He told us, and tried to close the door again.

But my foot wouldn't budge. "Where'd he go?"

"He has returned to St. Brutus's." Again, the door tried and failed to slam shut. Man, my foot was gonna have a helluva bruise by the end of this.

"By 'St. Brutus's', do you mean Hogwarts?"

Harry had told us that the Dursleys strongly disliked magic, but what happened next was a bit over the top, even for me.

Mrs. Dursley screamed, turned tail and fled into the house, shrieking "Dudley!". Mr. Dursley turned pale, to ash white, to green, to pink, to red, to purple. He could put rainbows on a run for their money.

"You and your kind stay away from my family!" he shouted at us, spit flying from his mouth.

And the door finally managed to slam shut.

"Well, I guess he's not here." I said calmly.

"Their reaction was pretty funny though." Iggy commented. "A bit crazy, but in a funny way."

"I didn't know someone could change so many colours," Nudge said. "so fast."

"Maybe he's from the School." Fang said as we headed back to our house. "Some kind of chameleon hybrid."

"Nah." Gazzy shook his head. "His eyes are too small. And they don't go in different directions."

"That we know of." Iggy added.

"They thought we were from the wizarding world." Angel told us. "Mr. Dursley is thinking of barricading the house up, so I don't think we'll be able to go back."

"What would be the point, anyway?" Iggy asked. "Harry's not there anymore."

"So where the hell is he?" I asked the world in general.

"Do you think the Death Eaters got him?" Nudge asked. "Or the Dementors?"

"Harry said he wasn't leaving the house." I said. "And I doubt if anything broke into his house that the Dursleys would still be alive."

"Maybe they're clones!" Gazzy speculated.

I sighed. "Sadly, that is a possibility."

Ella was waiting for us in the kitchen. The still very clean kitchen. I tried not to let it get to me.

"We're going to go see London!" She told us happily.

"We are?"

"Yes." My mom came in the room. "I thought we might do a bit of sightseeing, and maybe some shopping. We'll get everything that you'll need for school."

Ugh! School. I'd forgotten about that. In a month's time we would be official pupils of Smelting's. I could hardly control my excitement.

* * *

"Ooh! Max, look at this one!" Nudge squealed, holding up a sparkly top. Ella rushed over to her and they fawned over how pretty it was.

We were in the middle of London. Mom had gone to get our school uniforms. She told us we could go look around and for Ella to call her when we were done.

"Can we get something to eat?" Iggy complained. "I'm starving."

"We passed a bakery a while back." Angel said. "It smelled really good, and the people in there had happy thoughts."

"Do you remember where it was?"

"It was five shops ago." Gazzy grumbled, and it was clear that those five shops had combined to make the most excruciating experience of his life. I couldn't blame him.

"Okay." I held back a smile. "Let's go eat."

Finding the bakery was relatively easy. It was a small pink shop with 'Poppy's Sweet Tooth' painted in curly writing over the door.

We ordered from the wide variety of tooth-rotting pastries and went to sit at the small tables placed outside.

We split into groups of two or three. Me and Fang sat at a tiny round table to the side.

Not five minutes later I was picking up the crumbs on my plate, still hungry. Clearly, two doughnuts were far from enough.

I glanced at the flock. Gazzy was on his fifth cupcake. Ella was only halfway through her first doughnut. Iggy was trying to take her second without her noticing.

I did a 360 sweep of our surroundings. People crowded everywhere. I noticed a large department store across the bakery called Purge & Dowse Ltd. "Closed for Refurbishment" was written on the dusty door.

_It definitely needs it_, I thought. The place was shabby and miserable looking.

A man broke away from the crowd and approached the store. He stopped in front of a dummy in the window modelling a green dress. I saw him speak, step forward and-

Vanish! No, he couldn't have. I scanned the crowd to see where he'd gone, but couldn't find him.

I shook my head to clear it, and heard something plop down in front of me. I glanced down at my formerly empty plate. On it was Fang's last brownie, out of the four that he bought.

I glanced up at him but he was looking away from me, scanning the crowd. I took a bite of the brownie, a smile tugging on my lips.

Something cold hit my back then. The feeling spread through my body like icy water. Fang tensed instantly.

Behind me, I heard, "Don't waste time stunning, just kill."

That's all I needed to hear. I jumped up and shouted, "Move it!"

The flock was up and running before I closed my mouth.

We weaved through the crowds of people at a sprint and I heard people mutter annoyance as we dodged past.

Ironically, Iggy had grabbed Ella's hand and was guiding her, making sure she didn't fall behind.

I slowed to check behind us, but I couldn't see if we were being followed. Fang slowed as well, keeping one step behind me all the time.

We turned down an alley and wound up in a deserted parking lot. We paused to catch our breath, Ella wheezing and doubled over.

"You okay?" Fang turned to me. "They hit you with something." He ran a hand down my back, checking for wounds.

"I'm fine." I said, "They must've missed." Fang searched my face for any indication of a lie. Satisfied I was telling the truth, he nodded.

"We won't miss this time though." A voice came from behind.

Four men in black cloaks stood before us. How had we not heard them? It's like they came out of nowhere.

One man stepped forward and pointed what I recognised as a wand directly at my heart.

"You're time is up, birdie."

**Yay! Another chapter...finally! Review and tell me what you think :D**


	7. Chapter 7

**You might have to read the last chapter to remember what's going on...I know I had to :P**

**Part Two: Magic, Science, Same Difference**

**Chapter Seven**

"Seriously?" I asked. "You're about to kill someone and the most evil line you can come up with is 'you're time's up, _birdie_'?" I shook my head. "That's just sad."

"It's the Erasers all over again." Iggy muttered.

"Yup." Nudge said. "Potentially dangerous, but in reality, just plain dumb."

The leader waved his wand at me again. "Shut up all of you, or this one gets it!"

I rolled my eyes. "I thought I was going to 'get it' no matter what I did?"

The leader stepped closer to me, his wand inches from my nose. "Shut your face!"

I paused and considered him a moment.

"You do realize you're threatening me with a stick?" I finally said. "A magical stick, but a _stick_ none the less."

One of the other men spoke up. "Avery, there's seven of them. There's only supposed to be six."

So they could count. I had to say, I wouldn't have expected that. They didn't seem that smart. I glanced at Ella, who was half hidden behind Iggy.

"Kill that one." Avery said. "The Dark Lord wants to use the rest."

The Dark Lord? What kind of weird scientist-

Voldemort. That's what Harry said he called himself. Did Voldemort know about our wings? How could he have found out?

The guy on the right raised his wand towards Ella. I lunged forward and punched him. He grunted and stumbled back. Another guy grabbed me from the back but Fang chopped down on his neck.

"Let's get out of here." I shouted to the others. "Come on, move it!"

"No!" Avery pointed his wand at me. "_Avada Kadev-_"

Avery went rigid as a board, his limbs snapping straight. The flock watched, half amused half freaked, as Avery slowly tilted and fell to the ground. I had the urge to yell "Timber!"

"I can't allow you to kill a child, Avery." A man stepped from the alley. Tall, slim and wearing the weirdest nightgown I'd ever seen. With a matching wizard hat.

The cloaked guys went into a panic, shouting at him and each other. They started sending spell after spell at the nightgown guy. Everything from fire to giant snakes came out of their wands. None of which even came close to touching the guy.

They gave up then, grabbing the still rigid Avery and disappearing. They'd turned to run and…vanished.

The car park was quiet. I could hear the buzz of the crowd not 50 feet away.

"Now then." The guy said, smiling pleasantly at us. "Introductions first, shall we? I am Professor Dumbledore. "

Harry's teacher? "Max." was all I offered.

"Ah yes. Maximum Ride. I have been looking forward to meeting you and your family."

"Is that so? Well, we are pretty popular."

"Indeed you are. I came across your name and did a bit of research." Dumbledore glanced at me over the top of his glasses. Like he was trying to x-ray me. "You have quite a reputation, Miss Ride."

"What do you want?" Fang asked. It was going to take more then a few good words from Harry for us to trust him.

"I assure you, I mean you no harm." Dumbledore told us. "I have come to offer the flock a safe haven. The men who just attacked you call themselves Death Eaters. They work for a very dangerous man who, I'm afraid to say, seems to have taken an interest in your abilities."

"We can take care of ourselves." I assured him.

"I'm confidant that you can." Dumbledore smiled. "But for my own peace of mind, I would like to ensure that you children are somewhere safe."

"Thanks but no thanks." I said.

"Where's Harry?" Angel asked.

"Harry is safe and sound among friends." Dumbledore assured us.

"Good." I said. "Thanks for the offer, but we'll pass."

Dubledore inclined his head towards me. "Very well, but please be prepared for more visits from the men you have just seen. I ask you not to take this threat lightly."

"Will do."

"If you need any assistance, or have any questions at all, you will be able to find help at number twelve, Grimmauld Place here in London."

"We'll keep that in mind."

His smile returned. "Or, it's about a ten minute journey to the north of here, if you wish to fly there."

And with a twinkle in his eyes, he turned and vanished.

* * *

"I don't like this." I said, pacing one of our bedrooms. Mom and Ella were downstairs watching the news. Mom was not happy about our 'encounter' today, and she threatened to call Jeb of any more weird stuff happened.

"Too many people seem to know about us. How are they finding out?" How did the Death Eaters know about us? Why were they interested?

"Do you think someone figured out that we moved to England?" Nudge asked.

"Maybe. Angel, did you pick up anything from them?"

"Not from Dumbledore, but the Death Eaters knew a lot about us. When Avery said that Voldemort wanted to use us, he was thinking how clever Voldemort was to see this opportunity, and he was wondering why our creators wanted us dead so badly."

Everyone in the room froze. Then the outbursts came.

"Our _creators_?" "Not the _Schoo_l!" "That's impossible."

Everyone turned to me for confirmation. I rubbed my temples, trying to think. The School couldn't be behind this. Not so soon after we took Itex down. They would've needed time to regroup.

**Or maybe they think destroying you first would be wiser.** The voice offered.

_How could they destroy us before regrouping? _I thought. They wouldn't have the resources or the power-

**Exactly, Max. They would need help.**

_You wanna expand on that?_

**Look at the bigger picture, Max. Take every aspect into account.**

_What do you mean, every aspect?_

No answer. Great.

Okay. Every aspect. What did we have?

One aspect: We had Death Eaters coming after us, saying Voldemort wanted to use us. But how did he find out about us?

Another aspect: Itex coming back? But all those wacky scientists were arrested. Who could re-start it?

And why were the Death Eaters thinking about the School? Why would Voldemort get involved in Itex? How and _why_ did the world of science and magic get mixed up together?

"Max?"

I looked around at my flock.

"I don't know exactly what's going on, but it looks like Itex has teamed up with Voldemort to get rid of us." I told them.

"That doesn't sound good." Nudge said.

"It's never good when the bad guys team up." Gazzy said.

Everyone's faces ranged from uneasiness to dread. Okay leader, time to lead.

"Look guys, this is just another bad guy. Instead of guns, they have magical twigs. We'll still outsmart them. You saw them today, they're idiots."

"Dubledore told us not to take them lightly." Nudge said.

"And we won't. But we can handle them. How many times have we survived people trying to use us? Trying to kill us or trying to keep us under control? We _always_ get the better of them. They never win."

The flock looked a bit more relieved now. I gave myself a pat on the back. Mentally.

"Max?" Gazzy said, a hint of confusion in his voice. He'd thought of a catch. "You know how Itex and Voldemort have teamed up?"

"Yeah?" I said, waiting for him to go on.

"If Harry's enemy has come after us, then who's _our_ enemy gone after?"

I'm going to guess that the same name popped into everyone's head. Harry.

"Ah crap."

**Yay! Chapter 7! Is the plot moving too slow? Is everyone in character? Tell what you think and if there's anything i can work on!**

**Review Please!**


	8. Chapter 8

**This is where the plot starts changing form The Order of the Phoenix. Some things will change, others will stay the same. But which ones? That is the question :P**

**Chapter Eight**

**Harry's POV:**

"Please, Mrs. Weasley." Harry said. "Just down to the end of the road."

"No. Absolutely not." Mrs. Weasley refused. "I'm not allowing you lot out to wander around the muggle world. You're only children. What if something happened?"

"I'll be with them." Sirius said testily.

"Disguised as a dog." She shot back. "You're not supposed to be out at all, Sirius. Dumbledore told you-"

"I know what Dumbledore told me." Sirius looked like he was trying to keep his temper in check. "It's a five minute walk to get out of this God forsaken house."

Harry, Ron and Hermione watched the conversation like they would watch a tennis match.

"Come on, Mum." Fred came down the stairs with George. "We'll be back in time to help clean the drawing-room."

"We wouldn't miss that for the world." George said.

"Don't tell me you two were eavesdropping again." Mrs. Weasley turned on them. "You didn't make more of those Extendable Ears, did you?"

"Of course not, Mum."

"You've shown us the errors of our ways."

"We just have exceptionally good hearing."

Fred and George gave their mother matching grins.

"Let us out, Mum." Ron tried once more.

"You're a group of children and a wanted criminal. I'm not letting you out into the muggle world."

"But nothing will happen."

"You don't know that." Mrs. Weasley told him.

"I'll go with them, Molly." Lupin said, coming up behind her.

Mrs. Weasley hesitated for a moment. "But what if-"

"I'll make sure they come straight back." Lupin assured.

Mrs. Weasley hesitated again and George took advantage.

"We'll see you in five minutes, Mum!" He called, pushing through everyone towards the front door.

"We'll be right back." Fred added.

Harry, Ron and Hermione rushed after them on tiptoe, being sure not to wake the portrait of Mrs. Black.

They all piled out of the house. Sirius transformed into a dog before stepping outside. Lupin shut the door carefully behind him, and number twelve disappeared behind them.

The group walked down the street, taking in the fresh air. Sirius barked at a flock of pigeons and jumped into the air after them when they took flight.

"He sure is happy to be out of the house." Hermione commented.

"Yes." Lupin said. "I wish he wouldn't draw so much attention to himself though."

"Let him have a bit of fun, Lupin." George grinned.

"Yeah." Fred agreed. "We all need some of that."

"The last thing you two are in lack of is fun." Hermione informed them.

"That's the best way to live, Hermione." Fred said.

They came to a small park at the end of the street. It was bordered along the edges with trees, giving privacy from the surrounding houses and any muggles that might be around.

"So, how was the summer for you, Harry?" Lupin asked as the strolled into the park.

"Yeah," George said. "Did anything interesting happen?"

"Not counting that little scuffle with the dementors." Fred added.

"No, we want to hear about something _really_ exciting."

Harry laughed. "Well, a new family moved into one of the houses."

"You need to rethink what you consider as exciting, mate." Fred commented.

"Were they boring enough to fit in there?"

"No." Harry said. "They were actually pretty cool."

For the few weeks that the Martinez family had been on Privet Drive, it had almost been bearable to live there. Harry had even wondered that if they had moved to his street when he was younger, before he learned about the magical world, would he hate living there as much as he did?

A shape dislodged itself from the shadows and stepped forward.

Sirius froze, staring at the stranger while Lupin went for his wand.

The man regarded the group. He was dressed in muggle clothing and didn't have a wand that Harry could see.

"Can I help you?" Lupin asked stiffly while the man continued to look over them.

The stranger kept his face staring at Lupin, but his eyes moved to Harry and stayed there. "I'm here for Harry Potter."

Lupin moved faster than Harry had ever thought possible.

"Stupify!" Lupin yelled. The spell flew across the park and hit the man square in the chest.

He stumbled back a step. Then he straightened and grinned at Lupin. He took a step forward...

**Sorry about the ridiculously long wait. I kind of lost interest in this story for a while, but I've gotten back into it now. Yay!**

**It is a short chapter, but I want your reviews on it before I continue. I wasn't sure if the Harry Patter cast was in character enough. Also, I'm starting to think that the story has been kind of predictable so far. **

**So, if you have any thoughts or idea's, I'd love to hear them. REVIEW! :D**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

Harry's POV:

Three other men stepped out from under the trees. Harry looked around to see four others coming in through the park gate. The men spread out to surround the group.

Sirius transformed back into a man and pulled his wand from his pocket. Everyone else copied him, moving into a circle facing the men, no one's back left uncovered.

None of the men seemed to have wands, or were armed in any way. So why did Harry feel so helpless?

Because a stunning spell straight to the chest had had no effect.

"Stupify!" Sirius aimed the spell at the man closest to him, but he dodged it easily. Fred sent a spell at another one. It hit his shoulder, but the man brushed it off as if someone had lightly shoved him.

"What are they?" Hermione asked. "Why isn't magic working?"

Lupin tried once more. "Petrificus Totalus!"

One of the men laughed. "Don't you get it yet? Your little tricks don't work on us."

"We've evolved passed that." Another sneered, and then transformed before their eyes into a wolf.

Hermione let out a small scream. George swore and Ron uttered "Werewolves?"

Lupin shook his head, staring at it with shock and dread. "Not like any werewolf I've ever seen."

It was a wolf standing on two legs, fully clothed, moving like a man but with the face and fur of a wolf.

"It's the middle of the day." Hermione squeaked. "It's not even the full moon tonight!"

But Hermione's logic didn't stop the rest of the men from transforming, like the first one, into wolf creatures.

"Enough games." Said the wolf that had transformed first. "We have orders to follow."

He motioned to the other wolves. One of them lunged for Hermione.

"No!" Lupin shouted, and pushed Hermione's shoulder. The wolf's teeth closed around Lupin's outstretched arm and Lupin let out a cry of pain. The wolf bit down hard before letting go and returning to it's place.

Another wolf lunged, but before he got close to the group, something struck him across the face. He stumbled sideways from the impact, and a pinecone rolled across the ground.

"Hey Dog Breathe!" someone shouted. "Up here!"

Harry looked at where the voice had come from, and his jaw dropped. Standing in one of the larger trees in the park, looking down at them, was Max.

A million questions went through Harry's mind. Why was she here? How had she found him? Was she going to try to fight the werewolves, who weren't even effected by magic?

The foremost question in his mind though, was how in the world did she get up there?

None of these questions seemed to bother the wolves though.

"Stay out of this, girl." The leader snarled.

"Oh, contraire." Max said. "I think I'll jump right in."

Max leapt off the branch. Harry was sure that no one could fall from that height without breaking their legs. Not without the use of magic anyway.

But Max managed to flip twice in mid-air before landing perfectly crouched in front of the lead wolf.

She straightened up and smirked at them. The wizards stared at her in stunned silence, and Harry remembered that only he knew who she was.

"Max, don't-" He started.

"Max?" The lead wolf said. "Maximum Ride?"

"It seems like everyone knows who I am these days." Max said thoughtfully. "I'm flattered, really."

A ripple went through the wolves and they seemed to forget about the wizards, moving to surround Max.

"Max, get out of here!" Harry shouted. He didn't understand how she wasn't terrified.

Max rolled her eyes at him. "Relax Harry. I'm more than capable of taking care of a few mutts."

Harry opened his mouth to argue, but no words came out. These creatures couldn't be fought with magic, and Max was treating it as if it were all one big joke.

"You don't understand." Lupin said, keeping his eyes on as many wolves as he could. His face had gone extremely pale, and the sleeve of his robes had gone dark from the blood.

One of the wolves suddenly ran at Max. Sirius sent a spell at him, but he ducked and jumped towards her.

Max let herself fall backwards on her hands. She brought her feet up and kicked the wolf's stomach just as he pounced. His momentum carried him up and _over_ Max. She rolled with the movement, flipping and landing in a crouch.

The wolf crashed headfirst into a tree trunk behind her.

Max stood up. "You guys go back to where it's safe." She said to the wizards.

"You can't fight us all, Maximum." The leader said. Most of the wolves stalked towards her while the wolf behind her picked his splintered face out of the bark.

Max looked at leader and smirked.

"When have I ever fought Erasers alone?"

**The publication of this chapter is dedicated to my friend Philomena :P**

**W****ithout her, this chapter wouldn't have been up for another long time, so let's all give her a standing ovation! **

**(Metaphorically of course. I don't want to be responsible for a bunch of people getting yelled at by their teachers because they randomly stood up and started clapping and cheering in their computers class...) Anyway, hope you enjoyed!**

**Review! :D**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

**Max's POV:**

_Previously: "You can't fight us all, Maximum." The lead Eraser told me._

_I felt more than heard movement in the tree's behind me._

_I smirked at the leader. "When have I ever fought Erasers alone?"_

* * *

I heard the Eraser behind me get up, and I knew that I had half a second before his claws would sink into my back.

At the same time I had four Erasers coming at me from the front. I figured now would be a good time to give the signal.

I made a fist behind my back with two fingers out, and made a snipping motion.

The Eraser was an inch away from me when Nudge pounced on him. Iggy landed on the one to my left while Fang took out two Erasers at once. I moved towards the next one.

Gazzy and Angel jumped out of the trees, and the others turned to follow when their Erasers were down. We faced the Erasers as one, and they weren't looking half as cocky as they had been with the wizards.

It seemed like the flock had a reputation.

But the Erasers didn't retreat, because that would be too simple, and God forbid anything was ever easy.

The Erasers lunged for us, trying to overcome us by all attacking at once.

I did a round-house kick and hit an Eraser's jaw, making his head snap back. Another grabbed me from behind. He twisted my arm behind my back, pulling the muscles until-

_Pop._ A cry of pain was caught behind my gritted teeth.

I pulled my dislocated arm from the Erasers grasp. I turned to punch him. I kicked him in the stomach and before he could even let out an "Ooph" I kneed him where it counts and left him crumpled on the ground.

I walked over to the nearest tree, dodging the Eraser that Gazzy had just tripped up.

I took a deep breath and rammed my shoulder against the trunk. I grunted as it popped back into place, leaving a dull ache.

I recovered just in time to dodge to the left. Claws raked across the bark of the tree instead of the back of my neck.

Another round house kick and that Eraser was out cold. I looked around. All of the Erasers were either unconscious or on the retreat.

"You won't win every fight, freaks!" One threatened as he ran towards the park entrance.

_Pot calling kettle, anyone?_ I picked up a pinecone and threw it at his head. He stumbled and increased his speed.

"Report." I called.

Fang and Angel were scratched up. Iggy had a bloody nose, Nudge's lip was swollen and Gazzy had a gash on his arm.

Compared to the four or so unconscious Erasers on the ground, we were in pretty good shape.

Harry slowly walked up to us. He opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again, seemingly at a loss.

"What the bloody hell was that?" One of the wizards said.

I looked to see a ginger haired boy running up to stand next to Harry. The girl quickly followed.

"How in the world did you manage to do that?" She asked us with wide eyes.

A man came up to us then. "Are you hurt badly? Has anyone been bitten?"

"Erasers don't usually bite." Nudge told them. "Their strategy is more of a 'claw you to pieces' one." She said it as if this fact should be comforting to them.

"Er-what now?" The red haired boy asked.

"Um." Harry said. The rest of the wizards gathered around. "Guys, these are the people I told you about. The ones who moved next door to the Dursley's."

"If they're muggles then how did they know what those things were?" Another red haired boy asked.

"And how were you able to fight them?" His twin added.

"Because they're not normal." A voice said from the trees.

I looked to see the lead Eraser leaning against a tree trunk. Blood was trickling down the side of his face, and when he straightened up he was favouring his left leg.

"That blow to the head must have rattled your brain." I said to him. "This is the part where you run away with your tail between your legs."

The Eraser smirked. "He did say that you could be rude."

My eyes narrowed. I knew he was playing with me, trying to get me to take the bait. I refused to give him the satisfaction. Luckily, someone else took the bait for me.

"Who?" Harry asked.

The Eraser's smirk widened. "Oh, someone who knows all about Max. Someone who's going to help take the flock down."

He looked over his shoulder, and someone stepped from the trees behind him.

I stared at the new arrival, and he stared at me.

I tried to make sense of what I was seeing, at the same time my mind was trying to reject it.

Because it was impossible.

The flock stood frozen. Dead silence engulfed the park.

The quiet made my whisper sound like an echoing cry of pain…

"…Ari…"

**Did anyone see that coming? :P**

**This is another chapter dedicated to Philomena! Without her threats this story wouldn't be moving at all.**

**How was the fight scene? I'm not too confidant with them, so tell me what you think.**

**Review! :D**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

This couldn't be happening. He couldn't be here. He was dead. Again!

"Hi, Max." Ari gave a tentative smile. I wanted to shout at him to shut up, because hearing his familiar voice only helped to confirm that he was actually here.

"Ari, why…how…" I tried to form a sentence, but I currently had too many questions and not enough words.

How was Ari alive? And why was he back with the people trying to capture us?

"Enough pleasantries, Ari." The lead Eraser said. "You have orders."

It was weird to hear anyone talk to Ari like that. Ari had always been the lead Eraser of any group he was with. The idea of Ari having a superior was just…bizarre.

"Your orders, Ari." The leader growled when Ari didn't move.

Ari hadn't looked away from me. He shook his head slowly, as if he found the movement difficult. "No." he mouthed.

Angel stepped forward next to me. She had her hands together over her mouth as if she were praying. "Oh, Ari."

"Ari, what's going on?" I demanded.

"Max," Ari said helplessly. "I didn't-" he made a choking sound, and I noticed a small tremor in his arms and legs.

"Ari, just think about what's been going on and I'll tell it to Max." Angels said.

The lead Eraser growled in frustration. Then he composed himself and a slimy smile greased his face, which had dread coiling up in my stomach.

"Ari, you know what happens when orders aren't followed." He said in a mocking voice. "You don't want to go through that again, do you?"

A final tremor went through Ari, and he sprang.

He morphed mid-leap and hit me full force. We hit the ground and all the air was knocked out of me.

Before I could take in a breath, Ari wrapped his fingers around my throat.

Fang lunged for Ari, but the lead Eraser tackled him. Nudge knocked Ari off me and his claws scraped along my throat.

I wiped the blood off my neck as I staggered up right. I grabbed Ari's shirt and drew back my fist.

"Max, no!" Angel cried. "He's being controlled!"

I froze and looked at Ari. _Really_ looked at him.

He was pale and thin. The tremors were worse up close. There were dark circles under his eyes , and the eyes themselves were full of tears.

"I didn't mean to." He whispered.

I let go of him just as the lead Eraser gave a roar and threw Fang against a tree. "Ari, kill her now!"

Ari leapt again. I dodged behind him and twisted his arm behind his back. If I could just restrain him then I wouldn't have to-

He broke free and clawed down my arm He went for my throat again. I blocked and punched on instinct. He grabbed my arm and twisted so he could dislocate it (twice in one freakin day)-

Ari let go and staggered backwards. He grabbed his head over his ears and groaned in pain. Despite my confusion I readied myself for him to lunge again.

When Ari looked up again, it was at his leader. His face showed pure relief.

"We have to go." He told the other Eraser.

The lead Eraser narrowed his eyes. "What did he say?"

"Just to go back."

There was a moment of silence before the leader growled. "Let's go." He turned and ran out of the park gate.

Ari looked at me, then staggered backwards towards the gate, as if there were strings pulling him. He turned and followed his leader.

I glanced at the flock. No one was seriously hurt.

"Give me a minute." I told them, then I turned and sprinted after Ari.

Pain shot through my ribs as I ran down the road. I was pretty sure Ari had broken one or two when he tackled me. And I wasn't sure if the pain on my throat was due to the claw marks across it or the desperate tears I was holding back.

Because when Ari had looked at me, I hadn't seen the full grown Eraser that was capable of killing me. I'd seen the cute little boy Ari used to be. The blameless, innocent kid he would've been if he'd only just been protected.

He was being controlled, but I knew that the Ari I knew was still in there, fighting them.

And I was going to protect him. He was _my_ little brother, and I was going to make sure that anyone who hurt him was going to pay.

The pain from my ribs had spread to my legs. I turned a corner and increased speed.

I could see the van up ahead. The lead Eraser was holding the side door open and Ari was getting in.

I poured all my energy into speed. The leader saw me coming.

"Ari!" I shouted.

Ari looked up and gave a tentative smile.

"Get in." The leader growled. Ari's smile faded as he obeyed.

I reached out for Ari's arm but the leader lunged. He caught me around the waist and threw me across the sidewalk. My back scraped against the cement as I skidded, and I arched in pain as feathers were ripped out.

The leader pounced, grabbing a fist full of hair and yanking my head back.

"Careful we don't meet again," His rancid breathe blew into my ear and rolled over my face, and I tried to recoil. "Or I'll make your baby brother rip your throat out."

He lifted up my head and slammed it against the cement. Pain exploded behind my eyes and I saw spots and stars everywhere.

I heard a door slam and struggled up to my knees. My head was spinning and I was pretty sure I was going to throw up. I felt blood trickle down the back of my neck.

I staggered to the van and slammed my palm against the back window. I could see Ari in there, but the door was locked.

The engine started up and I punched the glass. A hairline crack appeared. I hammered against the window while Ari looked out at me, helpless.

"I'll fix this, Ari!" I yelled as the wheels of the van screeched. "I swear I'll fix this! I promise!"

Dust rose from the wheels, making me cough. I watched as it sped down the road and screeched around the corner.

"I promise." I whispered.

I swayed and collapsed on my knees, then I hurled in the middle of the street.

**Another chapter :D I'm planning on starting another story, so if everyone could go onto my page and vote on the pole, I'd be very grateful :)**

**Free Imaginary Cookies for everyone who reviews! (they're the best type of cookies :P)**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve**

"I can't understand why it won't heal!" Mrs. Weasley said after the fifth attempt at healing the scrapes on my neck.

"Magic didn't work on the werewolves either, Mum." The twin named Fred said. "Maybe it's the same for these guys."

"But it's still bleeding." She said.

"Don't worry about it." I told her. "We heal really fast."

"And we told you," Nudge said. "They weren't werewolves, they were human-wolf hybrids, and it's not contagious if you get bitten or anything."

"Are you sure?" Lupin asked for the millionth time, leaning forward on the kitchen table. "Are you absolutely sure about that?"

"Positive." Gazzy said. "If it was contagious we would've grown fur a long time ago."

This didn't seem to make any of the wizards feel reassured. I can't imagine why.

"And they were the authorities at this…this school you were at?" the girl with the purple hair, Tonks asked.

"Yup, authorities, guards," Nudge provided.

"Police." Iggy said.

"Executioners." Angel added.

There was a moment of silence before someone, Sirius asked. "Who did they execute?"

I shrugged. "Failed experiments. Anyone who the Whitecoats didn't have a use for."

Mrs. Weasley looked horrified. "But you said that these scientists experimented on children!"

"Yeah, children that didn't have any family or anyone looking for them. It's real easy to be evil when no one knows about it."

Everyone stayed silent for a moment, all lost in their own thoughts. Then a few of them exchanged glances, and I knew what was coming.

"You said that they performed genetic experiments," Lupin said. "Adding animal genes into humans…what did they do to you?"

I sighed and stood up, wincing from my still-broken ribs. Mrs. Weasley moved to stop me, but when I unfolded my wings she froze.

Actually, everyone had frozen. I couldn't unfold them completely in the cramped kitchen, but by the looks on their faces, they got the idea.

"We're 2% avian." I explained. "We have the ability to fly, increased strength and speed, heightened senses and a navigational system that we neither understand nor can explain." I glanced at the flock. "Did I forget anything?"

"We have awesome fighting skills." Gazzy said.

"So that's how you beat those wolf hybrid things." Fred said.

"Well, the Erasers are stronger than us," Iggy said. "but they don't have much skill."

"I didn't think there was much skill in muggle fighting," George said. "but that fight was wicked."

"What's a muggle?" Gazzy asked.

"A non-magical person."

"How is it that you and these…Erasers are immune to magic?" Sirius asked.

I shrugged. "Maybe it's something they did to us at the School."

"Or," Hermione said. "maybe it's something to do with not being completely human. It's been proven that creatures like centaurs and sphinxes aren't effected by magic in the same way as regular people. Or they're only effected by very strong spells."

"So we could be effected by some spells but not be others?" Angel asked.

"There's only one way to find out." A gruff voice said from the doorway.

I looked to see Mad-Eye Moody, a fitting nickname, hobbling into the room.

"From what those Erasers said, it seems the Dark Lord has taken an interest in you lot, and I can tell you, you'll get nothing good from it. You need to know what you're up against, whether it affects you or not."

I'm going to show you the three worst curses there are, and we'll work from there. Now, who wants to go first?"

"Moody!" Mrs. Weasley said. "You can't perform the Unforgivable Curses on them! They're children!"

I saw Harry and Ron exchange a glance.

"It'll do them no good to have it explained to them. They need to know exactly what's going to happen to know how to avoid it." Moody argued. "I'll do it on the two oldest." He added when Mrs. Weasley started to protest again.

He motioned for me to stand up. I readied myself to pass this test, whatever _this_ was.

Moody aimed his wand at me and I tensed. _"__Imperio!__"_

I relaxed my muscles without telling myself to. I heard a quiet voice, far off. I assumed it was Angel, trying to tell me what the spell does, but I brushed it away. I wanted to do this on my own.

When nothing else happened I looked around, and then refocused on Moody. "So what's supposed to happen?"

All the wizards stared. A couple jaws lowered slightly.

"You didn't get all calm and have a voice in your head telling you what to do?" Harry asked.

_A voice in my head telling me what to do._ "Well, yeah, but I've had that voice for a while now, and it rarely makes me calm. Quite the opposite, really."

I assumed from the looks on their faces that this wasn't a normal answer, even among wizards. I heard Iggy smother laughter.

"So what's the next one?" I asked while sending Iggy my best glare.

"The Cruciatus Curse." Moody was the first to recover. He turned to Fang, who was leaning against the counter. He raised his wand. _"__Crucio!__"_

Fang didn't move. Not one flinch. Only I saw the tiny movements. The tightened muscles, clenched jaw, knuckles whitening, eyes full of-

"Stop it!" I yelled. Moody lowered his wand. And I heard the tiniest exhales of breath from Fang.

"What was that?" I ground out.

Moody ignored me. "You felt the pain?" He asked Fang.

Fang shrugged. "It was bearable."

Moody turned to face all of us. "The Imperius Curse gives the spell caster complete control, but it doesn't seem to have an effect on you lot. Unfortunately, the same does not go for the Cruciatus Curse. Maybe it doesn't have as strong an effect on you all, maybe you just have a much higher pain tolerance."

He turned back to Fang. "It may be bearable for a few minutes, but that may not be the case after a few hours."

The third curse_, __Avada __Kedavra_…the Killing Curse. There is no blocking it, no way to fight it. You have no way of knowing whether it will affect you or not. You do not want to find out!"

He looked around at the silent faces of the flock.

"Now, just because certain spells don't affect you doesn't mean you can sit back and forget your worries. Just because a Death Eater can't cut you with a spell doesn't mean that they can't make a knife chase you around the room."

Gazzy and Iggy snickered at the mental picture, making Moody's magical eye swivel around to stare at them.

"The only way to protect yourself against magic is constant vigilance!"

Because it wasn't as if we didn't sleep with one eye open already.

Arthur Weasley walked into the room, interrupting our lesson of How Not to Die by Magic. He glanced around at all of us. "Dumbledore's here. He wants a meeting with the flock."

**Woo! Happy Updating Day, one and all! **

**I have the usual request: Review, tell me what you think of the story so far, yada yada yada...**

**Also...I have another story up! For all the people who like Twilight, you're in luck. It's a Maximum Ride/Twilight crossover called "For What it's Worth", so go check it out and tell me what you think!**

**For all the people who don't like Twilight...um...here, have a cookie! :D**


	13. Chapter 13

**Part Three: Apart We Shall Fall**

**Chapter Thirteen**

Dumbledore looked up as we entered the room.

"Ah, I'm glad you're all here. Come, sit down, make yourselves comfortable."

We all sat down in various chairs around the room.

"Firstly, I would like to thank you all for helping the Order when the human-wolf hybrids appeared."

"The Order?" I asked.

"The Order of the Phoenix." Dumbledore explained. "It's a secret society that I founded to fight against Voldemort. This is their Headquarters. Most of the adults you've met here are members."

"Is Harry part of the Order?" Nudge asked.

"No. Harry is still underage." Dumbledore told us. "And only people who have come of age may choose to join. After they have weighed all of the risks, that is."

"What kind of risks?" Gazzy asked.

"Becoming a member of the Order is not a decision to take lightly. It may involve putting yourself in the middle of a very dangerous position, having to make difficult decisions quickly, or coming up against something dangerous and unfamiliar. Such as extremely dark magic, or what happened this evening, for example."

"I called you here," He continued. "To ask for your assistance. You see, Harry is in a bit of trouble with the Ministry of Magic."

"About the Dementor thing?" Iggy guessed.

"Indeed. Because of that incident Harry has been charged with underage magic and must attend a disciplinary hearing to determine his punishment."

"But once Harry explains what happened they'll see that he _had_ to use magic, right?" Nudge said.

"I'm afraid that's where the problem lies. " Dumbledore said gravely. "Right now the Ministry is in complete denial of Voldemorts return. They will do whatever they think is necessary to discredit Harry's claims. I fear that his testimony will not be enough to save him from expulsion from Hogwarts."

"Let me get this straight." I said, leaning forward. "Instead of taking reasonable precautions to ensure everyone's safety, your government wants to completely ignore the possibility that a psychotic mass-murderer may be alive and kicking. And they're trying to discredit and punish the one guy who's _witnessed_ this psycho's return just so they can sleep easy at night?"

I leaned back in my seat. "And I thought _our_ politicians were bad."

"But that's not fair." Angel said. "Harry didn't do anything except save everyone."

"I'm afraid the Ministry may refuse to acknowledge that the Dementors were even there that night."

"That's why," he went on. "I'm asking one of you to come into the Ministry of Magic and testify as a witness to what happened that night."

The flock turned to look at me.

"From what Harry told us, I got the impression that we weren't supposed to know about any of this. About wizards, Dementors, none of it. So what happens when we waltz into your Ministry having a thorough knowledge of everything wizard-related?"

Dumbledore leaned back in his chair, placing his fingers together. "I would assume that the Ministry would demand that your memories be erased immediately."

There was a moment of silence.

"Is that all?" I asked brightly. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

Dumbledore inclined his head and gave a small smile, acknowledging my sarcasm. Finally, a grown-up who could appreciate my unmatched talent.

"This may not have to be the case." Dumbledore went on. "If the Ministry were to learn of you existence, your _true_ existence along with your abilities, I believe the majority will see you as an exception to the law and refrain from taking your memories."

"And what happens if we don't go? We leave now, go home and pretend none of this happened?"

"In that case, Harry will go in front of the Ministry as planned." Dumbledore said. "There was another witness that night, Mrs. Figg, but I fear her testimony will not be satisfactory, and Harry will most likely be expelled from school."

"That doesn't sound so bad." I reasoned. "He can be home-schooled, can't he? And personally, my experiences with school haven't been commendable."

"I'm afraid his expulsion will do more than remove him from his school. It will make him vulnerable to attacks from Death Eaters and Dementors, like the ones you've seen."

This whole thing was starting to give me a migraine.

"So you're telling me that I have to choose between having our memories erased, revealing our secret to the people who _have the power_ to have our memories erased, or put Harry at risk of being killed."

"To state the situation bluntly, yes." Dumbledore said. "I'm afraid those are the only options."

I shook my head. "You're not giving me great options here."

I had to put the flock first. That was my job. I couldn't do anything that would put them at risk. If that meant that Harry got expelled…

As if the flock were on the same thought-wave as me, Nudge said. "I think we owe Harry."

"Yeah," Iggy agreed. "He did save us from those Dementor things."

The flock turned to look at me once again.

I let out a breath. "Fine. We'll go to the Ministry."

"Excellent." Dumbledore said. "Until the hearing takes place you are welcome to stay here. There are spare rooms on the higher floors, where you may come and go as you please. Mrs. Weasley can get you settled in."

"Thanks." Angel said.

"Before we get settled into the Club House," I said. "We have to take a trip back to my mom. Update her on what's going on."

"Of course." Dumbledore said. "We wouldn't want her to be worried about any of you."

The flock got up to leave. As we filed out of the room, Dumbledore called me back.

"I'd like to ask your opinion on something." Dumbledore leaned forward on the table.

"It appears that Lord Voldemort has faced us with a new type of foe. Unlike you and your flock, the Order is not familiar with these wolf-hybrids, with these Erasers, as you call them. Up until today we have never met a threat we could not fight with magic."

He looked at me over his half-moon glasses. "Would you have any advice on how we can combat these Erasers if we encounter them again?"

I thought about it.

"The only thing I can say is…you guys better start learning how to throw a punch."

**I sincerely apologize for the unforgivably long interval between chapters. **

**I hope you will forgive me by reviewing and telling me what you think. **

**Plot line, characters, things you'd like to see happening later in the story. I'd love to hear your ideas.**

**Review!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen**

**Max POV:**

"But we just got here," Ella complained. "I was looking forward to going to school with you guys."

We were back at my mom's house on Privet Drive and we had explained that something had come up and we'd be gone for an unknown amount of time.

"Sorry Ells, but we have to go," I apologized.

The flock had packed a backpack each and were by the front door ready to go.

Mom stepped up beside me. "Jeb called while you were gone. He said he needed to talk to you. I think you should call him before you leave."

She handed me the phone and I took it like she'd just handed me a bag of crap. I sighed and dialled. He answered on the first ring.

"Max?"

"Yeah, what do you want?" I said shortly.

"Marian Janssen has escaped from prison, along with Roland Ter Borcht."

I paused. Well, that explains a lot. "How long have they been out?"

"They went missing three weeks ago."

I snorted. "And now you tell me? Thanks for the heads up, Jeb. You're really on the ball."

"I think they plan to take out the flock before-"

"We know all this, Jeb. The Erasers already showed up, and so did-"

I hesitated. I didn't want to tell him, but he deserved to know.

"Ari's alive, Jeb."

There was a long pause on the other end of the line. I was starting to wonder if he'd hung up when he said, "Are you sure?"

_No Jeb, I was just messing with you. April Fools!_ "Yeah, I'm sure. He attacked me. Itex is controlling him somehow."

Another pause, not as long as the first. "I'm getting the first flight over there," Jeb said.

"Yeah, well, we won't be here. The flock has to go somewhere."

"Where?" he asked.

"Nice try, Jeb." Like I'd tell him. Fat chance.

"Max, I can help you if you would just trust-"

"Trust?" I asked incredulously. "Think about what you said, Jeb. Only a small number of people knew the flock was in England. And you were one of them. We arrive and in less than a week Erasers find us! Someone told them where we were, Jeb, and you're on the top of my list of likely traitors!"

"I did not give away you location."

"You did it before, Jeb. What's stopping you from doing it a second time? And you have the nerve to ask for my trust? Wasn't it you who told me to learn from my mistakes? Well I have, Jeb. I wouldn't trust you to tie my shoes!"

I hung up before he could reply. I took a deep breath and handed the phone back to my mom.

She gave me a sad smile. "I won't ask if everything is alright, but is there anything I can do?"

I forced a smile. "Nah, the flock can handle this. We should be back soon but if we're not, don't worry."

She and Ella gave us all hugs and told us to stay safe. Then we were off, heading back to Number Twelve Grimmauld Place to await Harry's hearing.

**It seems like every time I write this little message at the end, I'm apologizing for the long wait between updates.**

**But this time I have a good excuse. My Leaving Cert is coming up in June and I have loads of studying to do.**

**For those of you who don't know what the Leaving Certificate is, it is a series of tests that you take at the end of your final year in school. Nothing you've accomplished in school means crap if you don't do well in these tests. There's a points system to determine what courses you can do next year in college. Depending on your grades in these tests, you could, for example, get 200 out of 600, which is fairly poor, or you could get 500 out of 600, which is extremely good.**

**(The points for each course changes every year, not depending on how smart you have to be for the jobs relating to that course, but how popular that course seems to be. So, lets say this year, no one seemed to want to be a scientist. The points for science in colleges would go down to encourage more people to choose it. Which means that any moron could become a scientist)**

**In my opinion, this point system lacks common sense and is just a load of crap, but I'll leave that rant for another day. It also doesn't change the fact that I need about 510 points for the English course I want to get into next year. So, YAY for lots studying! Oh, the joys of stress and panic.**

**My tests will go on from the 6th of June until the 14th of June. Until they're over, I wouldn't expect another update on either of my stories, but afterwards, updates should become more often. Wish me luck!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen**

If any of us thought that living at Grimmauld Place would be a holiday, we were soon proven wrong. Once we healed from our fight with the Erasers, Mrs Weasley didn't waste any time putting us to work.

"What the heck is that?" Gazzy asked, coming into the room as the rest of us were spraying Doxys with some black liquid called Doxycide.

Ron picked up a paralyzed Doxy that he'd just sprayed, and dropped it into a bucket.

"They're a lot of work, that's what they are," He said.

"Cover your face and take a spray," Mrs Weasley told Gazzy. "I've never seen an infestation this bad –_what_ that house-elf's been doing for the last ten years-"

If I thought the Doxys were creepy little creatures, they had nothing on Kreacher. He crept around the house muttering insults under his breath.

The thing I was finding the hardest to deal with though was the talking pictures. Maybe because the first picture I…met…was Mrs Black. That's a first encounter the flock will not soon forget.

Mrs Weasley kept us all working hard over the next few days. The drawing room took three days to decontaminate. Then we moved on to the dining room where we found spiders so big I swear they were genetically mutated.

The doorbell rang several times a day, followed soon after by Mrs Black's shrieking. The flock met several more Order members. Gazzy made friends with Mundungus Fletcher, much to the annoyance of Mrs Weasley, and the whole flock took a liking to Tonks when she joined our cleaning posse the day we found a murderous ghoul in an upstairs bathroom.

Other members, however, we never met and only saw glimpses. Harry and the others filled us in on each member we didn't meet, including Professor McGonagall and Snape. Their respect for their Transfiguration teacher was almost as clear as their hatred for Snape.

Harry had given the flock an overview of the magical world back at Privet Drive, but now that we were in the midst of it we were learning the details, like what Hogwarts and the different subjects were like, the rules of Quidditch, and even what certain spells did.

The night before Harry's Ministry hearing, Mrs Weasley turned to Harry and me.

"I've ironed a pair of clothes for you both for tomorrow. A good first impression can do wonders."

Everyone stopped talking and stared at Harry.

"How are we getting there?" Harry asked.

"Arthur will take you to work with him."

"Only Max gets to go?" Gazzy complained, oblivious to the tension at the table.

"Dumbledore thought it would be for the best," Mrs Weasley explained.

"When did Dumbledore tell you that?" Harry asked.

"He came last night, when you were in bed," said Mr Weasley.

Harry lowered his eyes to his plate. I felt bad for him. If I was nervous about the Ministry the next day, I couldn't imagine what Harry was feeling.

* * *

Fang tapped my shoulder and I was awake in a second. The room was still dark, with the navy tinge of early morning.

"Heard Harry getting up," He told me. "You better follow him downstairs."

Mrs Weasley had laid out clean clothes at the foot of my bed. She had even sewed up the hole in the knees of the jeans.

As I opened the bedroom door, Fang gripped my arm.

"If things go wrong in there," he said, "don't let them point a wand at you."

"In other words," I replied, "don't lose my memory."

Fang said nothing, just stared at me with eyes darker than the room, and let my arm go.

I went downstairs, past the house-elf heads mounted on the wall, and down into the kitchen.

Harry was already there, along with Mr and Mrs Weasley, Sirius, Lupin and Tonks.

Mrs Weasley gave me a stack of toast. I wolfed it down as Mrs Weasley attacked Harry's hair with a wet comb.

"Doesn't it ever lie flat?" she said desperately.

Harry shook his head. Mrs Weasley looked dejectedly over at my hair which, although just combed, had a permanently windswept look. That is to say, it looked like a haystack.

"I'll tie it back," I assured her.

Mr Weasley, Harry and I left the house and set off briskly down the run-down street. We took the underground further into London. I had to stifle laughter at Mr Weasley's excitement over simple 'muggle' things, such as the out-of-order ticket machines.

We got off in the middle of London and set off again.

"Here we are," Mr Weasley said eventually, pointing at an old red telephone box.

He opened its door and ushered us in. It was very cramped inside, and the claustrophobia set in once Mr Weasley closed the door.

He reached over and dialled. A woman's voice welcomed us to the Ministry of Magic and Mr Weasley stated who we were.

The floor of the telephone box shuddered and started sinking into the ground, which didn't help the claustrophobia at all. The earth swallowed us until it was pitch dark.

After what felt like hours a chink of golden light appeared at our feet. It increased painfully slowly. The door sprang open I sprang out.

And my jaw dropped. The Ministry of Magic must have some serious cash, because that place was fancy. They had a massive fountain, with life-size statues made of gold!

"This way," Mr Weasley said.

We took a lift up to level two as I tried not to get distracted by the paper airplanes flying around independently.

We got to Mr Weasley office. He told us to make ourselves comfortable as he started rifling through files.

Suddenly, a stooped old man with white hair rushed in, panting.

"Oh, Arthur!" he said desperately. "Thank goodness-an urgent message came ten minutes ago, it's the Potter boy's hearing-they've changed the time and venue-it starts at eight o'clock now and it's down in old Courtroom Ten-"

Mr Weasley looked at his watch, let out a yelp and leapt from his chair.

"Quick, you two, we should have been there five minutes ago!"

We followed Mr Weasley as he raced down the hall.

"Why have they changed the time?" Harry asked breathlessly.

"I've no idea," Mr Weasley said as he skidded to a halt and jabbed the elevator button.

_I know why_, I thought as we rode the elevator down._ Take the enemy by surprise and you've won half the battle._ I already didn't like these fancy, sneaky little-

"Quickly," Mr Weasley urged as we got off onto the 'Department of Mysteries' floor.

We ran down a corridor and down a flight of steps. We sped down another corridor that looked remarkably like a dungeon.

We reached a heavy wooden door and Mr Weasley stumbled to a halt, gasping and holding a stitch in his side.

"Harry," he panted. "Get in there. Max, wait…wait here for now."

"Good luck," I said.

Harry looked like he was going to be sick, but he swallowed and went into the courtroom, closing the door with a finalizing thud.

**I know I know, it's been ages. **

**My lame excuse = once my tests were over with, I hadn't written anything in so long that I'd kind of lost interest I guess, lost motivation. **

**Now I have another chapter up, that motivation should come back - but I'd like to know how many people are still interested in this story, so please leave a review, even a short one saying hi. :P**


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter Sixteen**

Mr Weasley and I waited outside the courtroom as he got his breath back. There was a few moments of tense silence.

"How long will this take?" I asked.

"A case as minor as this usually goes fairly quickly, but I can't imagine why they chose to have the hearing down here. These rooms haven't been used in years."

I turned when I heard footsteps approaching. Dumbledore was striding down the corridor with a batty-looking old lady behind him. He inclined his head at us pleasantly and said, "I shall call both witnesses in as they are needed." With that he disappeared into the courtroom.

Mr Weasley turned to the old woman and introduced us. She said her name was Mrs Figg. I assumed she was the first witness that Dumbledore mentioned.

I gave her a small wave and no smile. I drowned out their conversation. Soon I would walk into that room ad risk my entire family's safety. I was already suppressing the urge to run, and it didn't help that we were underground and flying wasn't an option.

It wasn't long before the door opened and a red-haired guy stepped out. He opened his mouth to speak but stopped when he saw Mr Weasley. Mr Weasley in turn looked surprised, and both averted their eyes from the other.

The red-haired guy asked for the first witness. Mrs Figg stepped into the room, looking way more nervous than I was. I wondered if her memory was at risk as well.

I glanced at Mr Weasley. Anyone would have been able to tell that he was related to the guy that we'd just seen, simply by comparing their hair. But, judging by their reaction to each other, I decided not to ask questions. The last thing I wanted to do was get caught up in some else's family fight.

The silence was back. I couldn't hear anything that was going on in the courtroom. Had they questioned Mrs Figg yet? How was Dumbledore going to explain me and why I was here?

Mrs Figg came out eventually. Mr Weasley asked how it was going but Mrs Figg said she couldn't say for sure.

Mr Weasley walked her back upstairs while I stayed behind and waited to be called in. He came back and I was still in the hallway.

I started thinking that the Ministry might not hear me out, they would just erase my memory right away. Or try to.

I imagined wizards jumping out of the room, wands blazing. There was no cover in the corridor. I'd have to run up to the next level, dodging spells that may or may not work on me. Wizards couldn't fight, so I'd have that advantage-

The door opened finally. The red-haired guy called me in, acting like Mr Weasley wasn't there.

I followed him into the room. Or dungeon, more like. If I had thought that the hallway had a medieval theme going on, it had nothing on this place. The walls were made of dark stone, dimly lit by torches. Benches rose up each side of the room, eerie and empty. Ahead, in the highest benches, shadowy figures sat with their faces hidden. Cowards.

In the centre of the room, Dumbledore sat on a cushy armchair. Harry sat in a chair that was covered in chains. Definitely a dungeon.

I walked to the centre of the room, my footsteps echoing. Dumbledore offered me an extra chair.

"So," a man in the middle of the front row said once I was sitting. "You are the Maximum Ride" -he said my name like he was tasting something new and unpleasant- "that Dumbledore has hidden from our knowledge until now."

I glanced at Dumbledore and Harry, not sure if this was a rhetorical question. But Dumbledore just gazed up at the people with mild interest, and Harry looked down at his shoes like he was debating whether or not to get sick on them.

I looked back at the man, shrugged and relaxed back in my chair. "I guess so."

A woman with a monocle spoke then. "Is it true what Dumbledore has said? You are a hybrid of some sort, created by muggles?"

"Yep."

"Oh-ho! You've done it this time, Dumbledore!" the man spoke again. "Revealing the existence of the magical community to a muggle, no matter how exceptional, is an offence of Section-"

"Ah, but I did not reveal our existence to anyone." Dumbledore corrected. "Miss Ride discovered it on her own."

A woman sitting to the right of the man leaned forward. My first impression of her was a human/toad experiment gone wrong. Horribly wrong.

She spoke in a girlish, high-pitched voice that grated on the inside of my skull.

"I may be mistaken, Professor Dumbledore, but regardless of how this…girl found out about us, her continuing knowledge of it is against our laws. She should be escorted from the building immediately and her memory erased."

"Yes, yes!" the man exclaimed. "You shouldn't have brought her in here in the first place! A muggle in the Ministry of Magic!"

All of them started muttering. Anger and annoyance build inside me.

"I thought I was here to talk about Dementors." I said loudly.

Silence fell. Then the Monocle Lady spoke again.

"You are not a witch, and yet you can see Dementors?"

"Why else do you think I'm here?" I retorted.

They all exchanged looks with each other. One witch in the back leaned over and whispered to another.

"Did you witness what happened on the second of August, when the attack supposedly took place?" said Monocle Lady.

I rolled my eyes. "Again, why else would I be here?"

She asked what the Dementors looked like and what happened. I told them everything, wanting to be out of here as fast as possible.

When I was done the man scoffed. "How do we know you're not lying?"

I narrowed my eyes. "I only lie when it's convenient for me. And in this case it's not. Why would I risk losing my memories if I didn't think the cause was worth it?"

There was a moment of silence.

"Well," the man said, "You're knowledge of the magical world is still a problem, which I will be discussing with you later, Dumbledore."

Dumbledore inclined his head in a little bow. "Of course."

"Very well." The man said, "You may go, Miss Ride."

Why did I feel there was a silent 'for now' that he added in his mind?

I got up and walked out of the room, leaving Harry's fate in the hands of a bunch of morons.

**Here we go, another chapter! For any of you who are interested, I got my college course and am now an official English student! Woo! :P**

**I'll try to have another chapter up as soon as possible. Enjoy!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

My body stayed tense until I had closed the dungeon door behind me. I had been expecting a spell to hit my back as I left the room, but I made it out with all my memories still in my head.

Mr Weasley was right outside the room, looking pale and apprehensive.

"How is it going?" he asked.

I shook my head. "I can't really say. They didn't seem all that interested in what happened. They were more interested in the fact that I shouldn't be here."

Mr Weasley looked strained. "But you told them what happened that night?"

"Yeah. For all the good it did. It's like they were looking for reasons not to listen."

We waited outside the courtroom, me leaning against the wall while Mr Weasley paced. Minutes passed. I tried hearing something from inside the room, but all I could hear was the echoing slaps of Mr Weasley's footsteps on the stone floor.

Finally the door opened and both me and Mr Weasley jumped. Dumbledore swept passed us, only saying that "Harry will be out shortly," before disappearing down the hall and up the staircase.

Mr Weasley and I looked at each other, then turned to stare at the door. With each second my worry rose. Would the wizards do something to Harry now that Dumbledore was gone? The chains on that chair-

The door opened again and Harry stepped out.

Mr Weasley stepped forward. "Dumbledore didn't say-"

"Cleared," Harry said, and I allowed myself to relax a bit. "Of all charges."

"Harry that's wonderful!" Mr Weasley was beaming. "Well, of course they couldn't have found you guilty, not on the evidence, but even so, I can't pretend I wasn't-"

The door opened for a third time and the wizards who had tried Harry started filing out. I watched each of them as they passed, but now that their faces were visible and they weren't towering over anyone, none of them would meet our eyes.

"Merlin's beard!" exclaimed Mr Weasley. "You were tried by the full court?"

"I think so," Harry said quietly.

I narrowed my eyes as I watched them pass. They had tried intimidation. A dark dungeon, chains, numerous half-hidden figures. People were more likely to mess up when they were afraid. These guys weren't looking for the truth, they were looking to win.

I realized then just how lucky Harry had been. He had been playing a game rigged against him.

There was one of them who didn't avoid eye contact. It was the witch I had assumed was a failed frog experiment.

She looked appraisingly at both me and Harry as she passed. I locked gazes with her until Mr Weasley's voice pulled me back to the conversation.

"I'm taking you two straight back so you can tell the others the good news."

I nudged Harry as we started walking to the stairs. "How are you doing? You still look a bit sick."

Harry grinned. "I'm feeling better. It's starting to sink in. I'm looking forward to going back to-"

Harry broke off in mid-sentence and lost what little colour had returned to his face.

I followed his gaze down the hall to see the man who had been in the courtroom talking to a tall blond guy with a pointed, pale face.

The second man turned as we approached. His cold grey eyes narrowed and fixed on Harry's face.

"Well, well, well…Patronus Potter," he said coolly.

Judging by Harry's reaction, this guy was bad news.

I wondered for a second of this guy was Voldemort, but dismissed it as being unlikely. For one thing, Vodlemort was supposed to be in hiding. For another, seeing as Voldemort was allegedly the most evil wizard who ever lived, I really hoped he could come up with a better line than 'Patronus Potter'.

"The Minister was just telling me about your lucky escape, Potter," the man drawled. "Quite astonishing, the way you continue to wriggle out of very tight holes…_snakelike_, in fact."

So the man next to him was the Minister. You would think that with his job he would have better things to do than oversee a case of underage magic.

"Yeah," Harry said, "yeah, I'm good at escaping."

I glanced at Harry. He was still pale, but I couldn't tell if it was caused by fear or anger. But I had gotten the hidden message. This guy must be one of the Death Eaters Harry escaped from when Voldemort came back.

The Death Eater's eyes turned to me. "And this must be the convenient witness. It is lucky that she kept her memories long enough to help you out."

I matched his cold gaze with a steely glare.

"Yes, well," The Minister said, scrutinizing me. "The matter of memories has yet to be determined."

I could feel my heart rate increase as I tensed. I didn't think I could make it to the lift before they got their wands, but I could always break the wand, or their arm, whichever snapped first-

The Death Eater turned to the Minister. "Shall we go up to your office, Minister?"

"Certainly. This way, Lucius."

They turned away and strode off together. We watched them until they disappeared into the lift.

Harry's grin was long gone as we slowly followed their path, and I was now constantly looking around for anyone aiming a wand at me.

"Mr Weasley," Harry said slowly. "If Fudge is meeting Death Eaters like Malfoy, if he's seeing them alone, how do we know they haven't put the Imperius Curse on him?"

"Don't think it hasn't occurred to us," Mr Weasley said. "But Dumbledore thinks Fudge is acting of his own accord -which is not a lot of comfort. Best not talk about it just now."

We stepped out of the lift. The atrium where we had entered the Ministry of Magic was almost deserted. I looked up at the gold statues as we passed. This close I could see that there was a witch and wizard surrounded by different creatures. I recognized the house-elf from my experiences with Kreacher. There was also a centaur and a goblin-like creature. They all stared lovingly up at the two people.

I glanced around and considered Harry's concern about the Minister being under the Imperius Curse.

I wasn't used to this subtle way of fighting. An enemy coming at me with guns blazing, threatening or torturing me. That I could handle. But an enemy that turns your friends against you without you knowing…how do you fight that?

My eyes swept the room. Any one of these people could be on the side of evil without meaning to be.

_Like Ari_. My chest tightened as I remembered my promise to save him. That was the next step. With Harry safe and heading back to Hogwarts, I had to gather the flock and go after Itex before they could rebuild themselves any more.

**Hey, so I know this is short. It's actually only half of the chapter I planned to put up, but seeing as I've yet to type the next bit I figured I would give you this for now.**

**Hope you enjoy, and review to let me know what you think. :)**


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter Eighteen**

Everyone was overjoyed when we got back. Fred, George and Ginny all started dancing around singing: "He got off, he got off, he got off…"

Mrs Wealsey cooked a huge dinner to celebrate and insisted that the flock stay to eat, as a thank you, before heading back to Privet Drive.

We were all squashed around the kitchen table. Tonks was entertaining Nudge and Angel by changing her hair colours. Gazzy and Iggy were flinging peas at Fred and George, who were, in turn, enchanting their carrots to fly around Iggy and Gazzy and attack them from behind.

Me and Mrs Weasley told them off at the same time.

Even Fang was having fun, in his own way. He was sitting next to Sirius, swapping stories about being on the run, and how many times they had to eat rats to get by.

I smiled as I looked around. The room was small, cramped, a bit unclean and very gloomy. But it was full of noise, of friends and laughter and life. I wished it could always be like this for the flock.

There was a knock on the front door then. Mr Weasley got up to answer it. He came back into the room a moment later and shouted over the noise of conversation.

"Max, Dumbledore is here."

"Has he come to celebrate?" Ron asked, momentarily distracted from his conversation with Harry.

"He says he wants a word with the flock."

"Aw," Gazzy said, dodging a pea flung by George. "Do we have to?"

I glanced around at the flock. "Nah, you guys stay here. I'll handle it."

I got up and manoeuvred my way to the door. Fang wordlessly joined me.

We followed Mr Weasley to the room we had met Dumbledore in before.

"Please, sit down," he said as me and Fang walked in.

"First of all, I would like to thank you, Max, for coming to the Ministry and speaking on Harry's behalf. I realize the risk you took, and I do not believe that Harry would have been cleared without your testimony.

"Therefore, I regret to say that your act of goodwill has put you in a difficult position where the Ministry is concerned. They contacted me shortly after the hearing ended, insisting that your memories be erased."

I could feel my heart start to beat faster.

"And what did you tell them?"

Dumbledore leaned forward on the table. "Their argument was that no non-magical person, with no ties to the magical world, should know of its existence. I countered their argument with the possibility that the flock may indeed be magical."

I raised an eyebrow. "So…you lied?"

Dumbledore smiled. "Did I?"

"The flock were made by science. I don't think we could get any less magical unless you stuffed our insides with cogs and wires."

"And yet," Dumbledore said. "the flock show many magical characteristics. The most pronounced of these being Angel's advanced Legimency skills, and her ability to change her appearance, possibly meaning that she's a Metamorphmagus, like Tonks."

Dumbledore regarded me and Fang.

"I believe that the flock shows remarkable magical capabilities. Your difficult childhoods, along with your exclusion from the magical world, have forced you to use your abilities in ways yet unknown to the magical community.

"Without being introduced to wands at the age of eleven, as most young witches and wizards are, the flock was forced to learn to manipulate your powers and surroundings without the assistance that a wand brings.

"This would explain your spectacular range of talents: Nudge's manipulation of metal, Fang's skill at blending into his surroundings, Iggy's aptitude to sense colours. All of these abilities are similar to magic done by young children. Un-honed magical potential, used in high-emotion situations, such as a need for self-defence.

I glanced at Fang. "So, our mutations are really us using raw magic to protect ourselves?"

Dumbledore nodded. "I would believe so."

I smirked. "It doesn't really explain the wings, though."

Dumbledore smiled back. "I admit that magic had nothing to do with that aspect of your lives."

"So this is what you told the Ministry?"

Dumbledore gave a nod. "It was my hope that if I could convince the Wizengamot that you were young witches and wizards who had been hidden from our knowledge, they may spare your memories."

"Did they buy it?" Fang asked.

"They were reluctant to acknowledge the possibility, but in the end they decided that if you truly had magical blood, then it was necessary that your powers be controlled, to avoid harm coming to yourselves or others."

I narrowed my eyes. "Controlled how?"

Dumbledore leaned back in his chair. "The Wizengamot has pronounced that the flock must attend the school of Hogwarts and be trained to wield what powers you have with responsibility."

I raised my eyebrows. "And if we refuse?"

"The Wizengamot has insisted in that case, that your memories be removed for the sake of safeguarding the magical community."

I scowled when I heard that. "I don't like the fact that every time we meet, you give me an ultimatum."

Dumbledore inclined his head. "A fact that I apologise sincerely for. But there are advantages to coming to Hogwarts. The flock would be completely safe from Death Eater attacks, and would be removed from Voldemort's reach."

I sighed and rubbed my hand over my face.

I returned to the kitchen with Fang. I heard the front door close behind us as Dumbledore left.

"What's up, Max?" Iggy asked over the multiple conversations still going on.

I massaged the back of my neck, dragged my fingers through my hair, and grimaced when they got tangled in it.

"It looks like we're going to Hogwarts."

**Woo! Finally, this story is getting somewhere. I know not a lot happened in this chapter, it was mostly Dumbledore talking, but I felt I had to give a better explanation for the flock to go to Hogwarts than just "hey, they're suddenly magical!"...which is kinda what I did...crap**

**So review, tell me what you think, good or bad, or what you would like to see happen. **

**Magic Rainbow Cookies for everyone who reviews! :D**


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